


Astronaut

by piece_of_resistance



Category: The LEGO Movie (2014)
Genre: Angst, F/M, I Don't Even Know, Romance, im queen of summaries
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-02
Updated: 2020-10-06
Packaged: 2021-02-28 19:35:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,444
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23442541
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/piece_of_resistance/pseuds/piece_of_resistance
Summary: After going back to his original timeline, Rex finds out that Lucy never stopped looking for him.
Relationships: Emmet Brickowski/Wyldstyle | Lucy, Rex Dangervest/Wyldstyle | Lucy
Comments: 16
Kudos: 66





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> well, that was a creative and inspiring summary :)  
> Times of quarantine aren't fun, so I decided to finally post this story that's been sitting in my docs since last June.
> 
> The title is inspired by a song by Amanda Palmer, i didnt know what to title this :/
> 
> Its b a d and my writing isn't good but oh well. This is just the first part, I have more written (but not edited) so I guess I'll post the next parts if yall want it? Anyways here you go

Through the years, Lucy had gotten used to the void of darkness beyond the big windshield in front of her, worriedly so. It scared her to think about how vast space was, how dark and lonely it could be. Even the strongest, bravest and toughest warriors could get lost in it—in space, their own mind, and insanity.  
She knew that well, after all, for five long years, she'd been piloting her spaceship through that very same course that was slowly leading her closer, not to the one thing she was looking for, but to insanity.

She liked to think, however, that despite time and despite everything else, she was still the same Lucy she’d always been. A little sadder, a little more lonely too—but of course, how could she not be when the person she’d loved the most in the world had been so cruelly and so suddenly taken away from her?  
Maybe she had become a little more bitter too, and better at brooding with each passing day.

The dark circles under her eyes and small wrinkles had also been a mark that years of restless searching had mercilessly left on her face, but it wasn't anything compared to the marks on her heart….but she tried not to think about that. If she did she was just gonna end up crying. Her tears would blur her vision and impede her from carrying on her mission properly and the heartache was already close to being devastating, she could not allow for it to fully consume her.  
No, she was in space on an important mission, she had to leave crying for when she got back home, like she usually did. In space, through the endless galaxies, she had to be serene and though, watchful and clear-headed, if she ever hoped to see him again.

Emmet…. 

A heavy sigh that sounded more like the beginning of a sob echoed through the metallic walls of Lucy’s ship as she pressed the autopilot button and stood up looking for a distraction.  
She crossed her arms and with a frown of her face, started to pace around the ship.

“I’ve looked everywhere,” she whispered, “what am I missing? where are you?”  
She was talking to a window, staring out into space….her reflection both tired, desperate and stubborn. But that didn’t really matter to her anymore.

Lucy was so deep in thought, daydreaming about seeing the face of her special best friend again, wondering if it had changed with time like hers—the only thing that brought her back to the bitter reality was a sudden and strong rattling of her ship. The big bump had startled her and she had to take a moment to recover before inspecting the ship for any damages.  
On the outside the ship was fine, but it was an old ship and a little faulty, it would give her little but harmless scared from time to time, especially after long weeks of non-stop traveling, but the inside had jumped too and made a mess out of things around.

Lucy cursed when she noticed that her huge stack of journals she’d collected over the years had fallen from her desk and to the floor making a mess out of the whole captain’s cabin. Loose pages were now flying all over the place, her markers and other writing materials had fallen from their bins, making ink splattered all over, ruining some of her notes.

“Oh no—” 

Lucy bent down to pick everything up and she frowned worriedly. 

Even though her growing stack of journals was filled with more questions than answers and complicated maps of stars that even she sometimes struggled to understand, they were still important to her. They were filled with all of the information she’d collected over the years in order to find Emmet, she couldn't lose that too.

She started to gather the notebooks to her side while also trying to collect all the papers that had flown loose, not really bothering to check the inside to put them in order like they had been before.  
She had been so concentrated with her task that she had almost missed it, and she had to stop to collect herself once she’d noticed and despite her better judgment, her hand moved slowly towards the object that now held her attention. 

One Polaroid picture was sticking out from one of her notebooks like a bookmark.  
She rarely looked back at the oldest ones. They didn’t offer much useful information as much as they did painful memories, but despite knowing this, she still ran her fingers carefully, almost tenderly, over it.

The picture, of course, was one of her and Emmet, one they’d taken before it all went to hell. They were both smiling in it—gosh, his smile!— he would smile so brightly at her even in times of war, even when she had asked him to change that smile for a frown.  
How she regretted that now. 

Looking at the worn-out picture only brought back memories. Memories were good, she had been happy then with him, but now they only brought pain. She remembered now why she would avoid looking at pictures at all costs, as tears started streaming down her face and she could do nothing but sit helplessly and blame herself. Agitated, and in between sobs, she threw all of the journals and papers back to the floor. 

“Emmet, I’m so sorry.”

* * *

  
Rex Dangervest had been very surprised to realize that despite messing with time and space continuum he had in fact, not died.  
Surprised….and a bit disappointed.  
Somehow, without having to think too much about it, he knew he was back in his original timeline. Still, he was lost. He was lost and lonely in the vastness of space, and he did not care one bit.

After his great master plan had failed —thanks to a certain person with bubblegum hair and beautiful eyes whom he hated with all his heart—he’d found himself back to his own time.  
Back—to the future, he chuckled with bitter irony. The man upstairs probably hated him a lot. 

His Rexcelsior was back too, but the part of it that had worked as a time machine was now gone, destroyed to pieces as if it had never once worked. He knew this because his crew of raptors, the only ones that had kept him company and had brought him any resemblance of happiness for a long time, were gone too.  
Man, the man upstairs really did hate him. 

Rex knew though, that if he’d wanted, he would’ve probably been able to fix his time machine and go back and try everything all over again. No mistakes this time, not now that he had a better idea of how things would play out. He could do it, he could win.

But the problem was, he didn’t want to. He could not bring himself to care anymore. 

What was he supposed to do now? A voice that sounded very much like gleeful and naive Emmet told him to go back. Back to his old town, his friends, back to….back to her.  
He shut that voice in his head down immediately.

Go back? Ha! Unlikely. He could do it easy enough, but he would not go back to people that had not cared for him—people who he no longer felt comfortable calling friends.  
He would not go back to his so-called special best friend. Especially not when he knew how the world worked now. He might have lost but he still remembered, and he would rather drown back in his own loneliness once more than go back. 

He was better off without them, and they certainly better off without him too, happier even. He knew—he’d seen them. 

During the many months that had passed by since he’d come back from the past and since he refused to go back, he had been doing nothing but purposelessly wandering the galaxy in a ship that was now much too big for just one man and no crew.  
Lost and lonely.

Sometimes he would discover new things, new planets, new moons and societies just like when he’d been a galaxy defender. He would go back to certain places to get enough food and other needs to get by every now and then, but that was it, he would avoid people—or aliens—as well as he would avoid crowded areas. He would avoid Bricksburg and the Systar System most of all, or as they now called their joined society “Syspocalypstar”.  
Disgusting!

He didn’t need anyone and no one needed him, he was just following the path the universe had laid for him without complaints.  
A fallen hero, a villain, and now just a lonely wanderer of the galaxy. And he’d vowed never to get attached to anything, or anyone ever again.

Was that really living? Probably not, but he really did not care anymore. 

In his desolation, he had found one dead moon he particularly had liked a lot. The gravity was nice, it made him feel light and free and while it was very cold, very much like the rest of the space, it wasn’t that bad either. The surface was very uneven and full of craters but Rex thought it was cool so he had made it a habit to rest his ship there from time to time, between travels and missions, and that’s exactly where he was headed to now.

Not long ago, Rexcelsior had suffered some minor damages while Rex had been trying some dangerous maneuvers around some asteroids. Normally, he would've had no problem with that, he was a talented pilot after all, but he had been reckless and had gotten distracted by the memory of saving Emmet from a very similar situation, so now he had to land and fix his ship before the damages kept up with him in the worst of times.

So there he was now, just landing on the desolated moon he liked so much, getting ready to run some reparations in his ship and who knows? Maybe he could stay there a little longer and relax, or go for a moonwalk. That had always brightened his mood.  
Once landed, he started to gather all the tools he would need as well as some spare pieces. A wave of loneliness and heartache hit him suddenly, when he realized that in other circumstances he would have his crew of raptors to do the job for him, or at the very least have them join him to help.  
He missed them a lot, his only companions for years and now he had to get used to being all alone again….

No—he wouldn't think about that! He was fine, he was tough. He was Rex Dangervest and he didn’t need anyone.  
Anyone at all.

Shaking his head in an attempt to get rid of such gloomy thoughts, Rex put on his spacesuit and helmet and headed towards the exit of the ship. He was about to go to the back to start his job when he noticed something—something he definitely should have noticed before.

It was a spaceship. A big spaceship. Not as huge as the Rexcelsior but definitely big enough for a whole crew.  
Suddenly, the check-up of his own ship had been left forgotten as he put his toolbox down and aside and headed towards the ship.  
The platform of the entrance had been left open. It lured him to get inside, and so he did.

“Hello?” He asked, as he loomed into a dark hall.  
No answer. 

Curiosity got the best of him, so he slowly started to move forward, careful to hide his steps. The ship seemed to be empty. Good. He would rather very much not be seen.

He then approached what seemed to be the main lounge area of the ship, but it was all so dark he had to take out a flashlight he always carried on his spacesuit in order to see well. Nothing interesting seemed to be there, so he only walked past it. A much broader space gave way to the controls of the ship and the captain's cab. 

He hoped to find something interesting there, although he wasn't sure what. He had no idea why even he had decided to lurk in the ship in the first place, but he was not gonna go back now. In the darkness of it all he almost tripped and annoyed, he pointed his flashlight down to see what he was stepping on. The answer surprised him a bit.  
Rex noticed a mess of papers on the floor, and with a raised eyebrow decided to move carefully towards it, one heavy step after another. Bending down, he started to survey the content in the notebooks. 

Sketches of planets, diagrams of constellations and solar systems, some known to him others were foreign to his mind.  
The pilot of this ship was probably a scholar, he concluded. A star explorer like him but much more dedicated to the intellectual aspect of space rather than adventure. 

Emmet would’ve been impressed by it no doubt, but Rex only thought that he probably didn’t want this person to see him lurking around their ship. Old, confident Rex would’ve loved some action and confrontation, but after all that had happened—he already felt defeated before he could even start any fight. 

Just as he was deciding to leave, something on the corner of his eye caught his attention and made him turn, it stopped him from getting up. A glimpse of glossy color, along with some handwriting that he would be able to recognize anywhere.  
He could’ve sworn his heart skipped a beat. A picture. It was him, well—not him, but Emmet. And Lucy.

Lucy.

The room suddenly turned cold, his surroundings blurred, he was no longer in control of his own body. It was only the picture, and nothing else.  
He remembered that day, he remembered the exact moment it was taken it was a lifetime ago. He could almost remember smiling for it, and the warmth of the woman who smiled next to him.  
His hand started to shake as he held the polaroid. He clenched his teeth in an attempt to hold back the wave of emotions that had so suddenly started to fall all over him.

What was it doing here, worlds away from where it had originally been taken? It made no sense.

None whatsoever

It was an effort, but he was able to tear his gaze away from the image and in an involuntary movement, he put it in the pocket of his spacesuit. But Rex would not leave yet, he scrambled through the papers and notebooks with curiosity and grabbed a random one to see if maybe the answer to the mystery his mind had fabricated could be found among those pages.

Did this ship belong to Lucy? ‘Yes’ was the most obvious answer, but he still would not believe it.

His heart started to race at that thought.  
He hoped so—or not, he hoped not! He never wanted to see that woman again. Only he would have such bad luck to stumble upon her ship.

His movements were clumsy now, not very much like Rex, but more like Emmet. He didn’t have time to think about how much he hated that. His breathing was heavy, but he tried to steady it, to slow down and collect his thoughts.  
Calm down, he told himself, you’re Rex Dangervest, breathe—

Whether Lucy was here or not did not matter, he wasn’t gonna let her see him. Whatever she was doing here had probably nothing to do with him, probably just some investigation for this crazy space research.  
At first, he didn’t seem to find anything that confirmed his suspicions, just notes and research about different planets, once more he thought about leaving, but something stronger urged him to stay. Not because he was particularly interested in what the owner of the ship was up to, but the foot of one page was signed with Lucy’s name— again, her handwriting.  
The wave of mixed and confusing emotions returned, he was breathless. 

“Will I ever be free from you? You saved me and made me fall in love with you like crazy—then you told me I wasn’t good enough for you and left me to die….and now, years after you’re still haunting me.”

One random page he chose went back to almost four years ago, it read almost like a diary entry. In a collection full of studies, there were very few pages like this one, so he stopped to read it. 

“Dear Emmet,”

Not a diary—a letter. The sight of it made his heart skip a beat

“I hope you never read these, that would be embarrassing so I’ll never let you. It’s just so much easier to record my progress like this, makes me feel less lonely, you know the drill. Anyways, it’s been months, Emmet. Where are you? I ask this in every entry and it’s not like I send these and you’re going to reply—I think I’m going crazy but I don’t care. The others keep telling me it’s a lost cause after looking for so long, but I don’t think so. I know you’re out there, I will find you.” 

What? No!

That—that made no sense. That did not fit with the narrative Rex knew….or thought he knew. Lucy had not missed him, Lucy had not cried, and most importantly she had forgotten about him.

Or had she?

…..No, she hadn’t.

“You—you were looking for me?” Had he been wrong about her this whole time?  
It couldn’t be. It couldn’t it all have been for nothing.  
That entry was old. Maybe she had looked for him at the beginning, only for a little while. Maybe only out of obligation, but that didn’t change anything. He still would not forgive her.

He flipped through the pages again, this time towards the end of the same journal.

“Dear Emmet,  
It looks like I will have to buy another notebook. I swear I didn’t think it would take this long, I thought I’d have you with me by now, but space is scaringly infinite so….I guess it makes sense. It’s been over a year since I last saw you and I’ve decided now that the first thing I do when I see you again is to smack you in the head as hard as I can. You’re an idiot and I hate you like I’ve never hated anyone in my life. The others back at home keep telling me to move on and to start going on dates again. I might as well. Not moving on and forgetting all about finding you, no, but going out with somebody. It’ll serve you right for doing this to me. You have no idea how much I miss you. I want you back.”

“Dear Emmet,  
Wherever you are I hope you’re having fun, or suffering, I don’t know which one i’d prefer. I hope you’re okay I really really do. This is gonna sound stupid after three years but, I still remember the last things I told you. They weren’t very nice things, and I regret them a lot, I told you to change, but I didn’t realize that you were—I’m sorry you are, perfect no matter what you choose to be. I will tell you that when I find you, I also won’t smack you anymore, a hug will do. A very big one. I miss your hugs a lot.”

Rex missed them too. And how he did, he still remembered how when he’d time traveled, he’d witnessed past Emmet and his Lucy hug a couple of times, and it had been a struggle not to intrude and get at least a passing touch of her.  
He didn’t want to admit it at the time cause he hated her and she had forsaken him. 

But...he felt different now. The resentment that had been built inside him for so many years started to melt against his will. He knew that when he felt a single tear slide down his cheek as he continued to read her letters in awe.  
She hadn’t abandoned him. She had looked for him. Lucy loved him and Rex had been wrong all along. 

“I overheard someone last week say that you were dead and that I was wasting my life here trying to find something impossible. That thought breaks me, but I know that’s not true, it’s been so long but I know you’re alive. Somehow I just know, and I won’t give up on you cause I know you would never give up on me. Our friends at home, they worry, especially when I’m gone for weeks. when I’m back empty handed they sometimes throw parties to make me feel better, it doesn’t really help a lot but singing does, and I’ve been doing it a lot lately. At parties, small concerts—when I pilot this ship. Maybe my notes will reach you, somehow.  
There are so many things I regret. Not telling you who I really was, is one of them, but I will when you come back to me. No more lies or secrets  
We’re going to be so happy I promise.  
-Love, Lucy”

His heart, the one he had thought was hard like stone, broke upon reading the last sentence.  
They could’ve been happy once. Unintentionally, he had given the other Emmet and his Lucy that chance. Maybe that was the only good thing he’d ever done.

But, whether Lucy still loved him or not, it did not matter. She loved Emmet and he was Rex now, someone mean and manipulative, someone evil and unworthy of Lucy’s love. A villain, and he could never have her again.

He had decided it now, he had to leave before Lucy came back. The only thing that would break her more than finding Emmet dead, or not finding him at all would be finding Rex.  
Wiping his tears away with his knuckles he stood up, ready to leave he turned around towards the exit. 

He was met, however with a silhouette in the dark, an extended arm that held a systerian-like weapon and pointed directly at him. The face of the person was hidden by the shadows but Rex knew exactly who it was.  
He froze.  
Oh no. Not this—anything but this.

“Who are you and what are you doing in my ship?” Asked slowly, with a dangerous and menacing tone, the voice of the woman he still loved.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i needed some distraction so I decided to edit this part and post it, i hope you like it, you most likely wont cause this is not a happy chapter tho :p

When Lucy made her way back into her ship, she heard strange noises coming from the inside. She had come back from surveying the surface of this dead moon—nothing had seemed too unusual, at least nothing that she had noticed, so she’d gone back to her ship to get it ready and explore the place some more.  
Until she heard it. The faint noises inside her ship had been enough to rattle her and make her go alert and into attack mode.

Could it be a stupid alien monster had snuck into her ship while she was out? That could be solved easily enough, she thought as her fingers grasped the systaryan weapon she had started carrying around her belt.  
Or could it be something else? Something more dangerous?

Upon realizing that she was not alone, she decided not to turn any lights on, to walk as slowly and quietly as possible as not to alert the intruder of her presence. And as she walked in the dark, she noticed a faint light coming from the piloting area. It gave way to the shadow of a man.

So it wasn’t an alien monster, this was so much worse.

Slowly as she approached the intruder— who had still yet to notice her presence— she pointed her weapon at him. In the faint light she could see him better, he was crunching down, snooping at her journals. Even in that position she could tell he was so much bigger than her, which was a bit worrisome. Now that he was distracted it would be a good time to attack, or at the very least to say something and catch him off guard, but there was something about him...it seemed impossible to her to take her eyes off of him.  
And she didn’t know why.

There was no time to think about it, however, because next thing she knew he was already standing up and turning around to leave.  
No time.  
Once he noticed her standing there, pointing a weapon directly at him, he froze immediately.  
Good.

“Who are you and what are you doing in my ship?”  
She said in the firmest, most authoritative tone she had.

The man didn’t say anything, and with only the dim light of his flashlight pointing at a different direction, his expression—and most of him—was hidden by the darkness.

“I asked you a question. Who are you?” She repeated, this time slowly and much louder. The harshness of her voice echoed through the metal walls and after a moment of complete silence, he finally spoke.

“....a stranger.” A husky voice said and Lucy was taken aback at how familiar he had sounded. Not only that, those two words seemed to be tainted with pain, like he could break down at any minute.

“Alright.” She responded, a bit hesitant, she was still not satisfied with his answer, and her anger and intrigue kept growing by the second. “And what are you doing in my ship….stranger? Why were you messing with my stuff?” Her weapon was still pointing at him, and it would continue to do so, she thought as she carefully eyed the area on the wall where she knew the light switch was. She had to move fast.

“I….I just found it. I was just leaving, I—“

She didn’t let him finish. In a swift movement, she leaped towards the wall, still aiming at her target, and turned the light-switch on. 

Now she could see him better, kind of. As soon as the room had lit up he’d turned away from her, hiding his face behind his arms.  
What a weird, and suspicious thing to do.  
She started to slowly walk towards him, but every time she’d give a step forward he would give one back.

“I was just leaving, I swear I didn’t take anything. Put that down. Just let me go.” He pleaded, and such a plea felt somehow wrong coming from someone as big and strong looking as him. Yes, even with that space suit on she could tell he was in shape….  
The more she heard his voice the more she was sure he was forcing it. Maybe he wasn’t such a stranger after all.

“I’ll let you go if you put your arms down, and let me see your face.” 

Nothing. He gave her no answer as she waited and still he gave no sign of lowering his arms or showing his face to her.

“Alright,” she said after realizing he was not gonna listen to her. “Don’t do that then, but look at this.” It was somewhere in that mess of ink and papers, she remembered she’d put it in between one of her journals so it had to be there. Scanning the floor with her eyes, she bent down to pick it up when she finally saw it, then she extended her arm to show it to him.

“I’m looking for this man,” she started as she held a picture in front of him. “His name is Emmet Brickowski. He got lost many years ago, but I know he’s out there….I just know it. Have you seen him?”

The stranger lowered his arms enough to look at the picture, she tried to concentrate on what little she could see of his face but his eyes were hidden by the shadows casted by his long bangs. One thing she did notice, however, was how his breathing became heavier once she’d shown him the picture.

“I knew Emmet….” he whispered, after a long moment of hesitation and heavy silence and—and she had not been expecting that. She thought she was gonna die right there. Her heart gave a turn.

Could it be? Could is really be that after years of wandering space, seemingly with no direction she finally had a clue? A lead? Maybe even hope. She had not been wrong, every time she’d decided to get on her ship and look for him. He was out there….

Or was he?  
The way the stranger had said it, almost mournful....knew him. It took some moments before she was able to fully take in the weight of his words.

“K—knew?” She asked in a whisper, full of denial. “What do you mean you knew Emmet? Why the past tense? Where is he now? Do you know?” She had now raised her voice again, she hadn’t meant to, but she had been hit by a sudden wave of emotions she had not expected, and they were not welcome.  
He knew Emmet.  
Finally after so many years she had a lead, but it was not what she’d wanted.

“Oh boy, if you think I’m letting you go now you have another thing coming! Tell me where he is!”

“Stop it Lucy! Calm down!”

“Don’t tell me to calm down! You don’t know what this means to me and—wait a second…how do you know my name?” 

Again, a cold silence covered the room. Lucy was too stunned to think, there were so many things happening at once. She didn’t care how, but she needed to get answers, finally there seemed to be hope for her to see Emmet again, but it was all wrong.  
Without realizing, she finally lowered her weapon.

“It was written in your journals…” He said carefully, in a whisper.

“Oh.” Yeah, that made sense. He’d read them after all, he probably knew all of her secrets, all of her feelings. But she was not embarrassed of the words she’d written, she had stopped caring about what other people thought of her long ago.

“Listen,” She said as she started to fight the urge to cry. “Emmet was my best friend. He was—no, he is the man I love and I need to find him. I need to see him again, so please, please if you know where he is, or if you know anything at all please tell me.” 

The stranger seemed to think for a minute before speaking, he was choosing his words carefully. He turned around, only his back was facing her now. This time she let him.

“You should…” he sighed, she saw his shoulders shake as he hugged himself. “Lucy, I think you should forget about him and go home.” 

What? No! Why would she ever do that? After hearing her, and reading her love letters to Emmet, why would he think she would even consider doing that?

“That’s not happening any time soon. Do you have any idea how many years I’ve been alone in space looking for him? I’m not giving up now.”

“Well you should cause…cause Emmet Brickowski does not exist anymore.” 

Cause Emmet Brickowski does not exist anymore.

What?

Those words kept echoing in her head before she could process what he meant.  
No. Of course not.  
It couldn’t be!

She felt sick to her stomach and the only reason why she didn’t break down crying was because she was sure that the man in front of her was lying. He had to be.  
She shook her hair in denial and bit the inside of her checks to fight down the tears.

“No. That’s not true that’s a lie. Why are you lying? Why the hell would you say that?” 

“It’s not a lie. I was there when Emmet finally gave up. He was in this place called Undar of the Dry-ar system. Did you ever check there?” He asked with a hint of hurt in his voice. But no, she hadn’t even heard of such place. Before she could answer, he continued talking. “He always hoped his friends would come save him—you see, it’s a very cold and dark place, and there, you cannot move, so there was nothing he could do but stand still and wait, and wait…and wait.”

Lucy could not hold her tears back any longer. What if what that mysterious man with the deep voice was saying was true? Maybe it wasn’t.  
Maybe it wasn’t…but the thought of Emmet being alone and scared in the cold darkness and completely unable to move, was unbearable to her.

“He wanted to see you most of all. He loved you too. You were always on his mind….so at least know that.” The stranger was crying too now, but why?  
From what she gathered from his vague words, they’d been together in that place, that seemed right. But if the stranger was here, then where was Emmet?

“Eventually he realized no one was gonna come for him and well, just—just don’t try to find him anymore cause I told you, you won’t be able to...you’d be wasting more of your time. He doesn’t exist anymore.”

Lucy fell to her knees, she hid her face between her hands and started sobbing. Emmet couldn’t be dead, she was being lied to. It couldn’t be true it just couldn’t….but it made so much sense.

Not her Emmet.  
He’d never done anything to deserve such a fate. He should’ve waited for her, he should’ve held on just a little longer—she had been on her way to find him.  
No….this was not how things were supposed to go! They were supposed to end up together, they were in love, they were special best friends and one day they would finally be happy! That was the future she’d been holding on to every damned time she got into her ship and wandered through space—and now it had all turned into dust.  
Emmet, the sweetest, most loving and optimistic person in the world was gone, all because she had been late.

And he’d been too good, so why, out of all people, Emmet had to be the one to suffer like that? Why right after all the fighting was over?  
They’d had so little time, and she had wasted most of it brooding, trying to be tough. The last things she’d said to him were almost belittling—and usually she tried not to think much of it, because she always thought she would have the chance to apologize and make up for it.

But that was no longer true, according to the stranger’s words, Emmet no longer existed, she’d never see him again.

The man she loved was gone and she didn’t know if she’d ever stop crying. 

Lucy was feeling too much to even notice how the stranger moved towards her. She didn’t care now if he left. 

Her body was shaking and her sobs had become louder, not even the arms that suddenly enveloped her in a tight hug from behind made her stop.  
They stayed like that for a while; his chest pressed against her back and his hands on her shoulders. Sometimes she could swear he was as heartbroken as she was, for the way she felt him cry.

Once she was finally calmed enough to speak, she did.  
“Please, please tell me that’s not true. Tell me there’s still a way I can find my Emmet.” Her voice was shaky, he took a deep breath before speaking.

“You deserve to be happy,” he said, and once more, she swore she recognized that voice. Why even was she letting him hug her like that anyways? His arms for some reason, felt safe and familiar, but all she wanted was to be alone...or with Emmet, but apparently that wouldn’t be. “Please don’t waste more of your time here. What’s done is done and there’s nothing either of us can do to change it. So go back home. Live your life, laugh and dance a lot, sing your heart out…fall in love again. And just, be so incredibly happy. I know now that’s what he would’ve wanted. All he ever wanted was for his Lucy to be happy, even without him…he’s not selfish anymore.”

Lucy was taken aback. What was he saying? It didn’t matter how comforting his hug felt, this was a crazy man. There was something about him, a feeling she couldn’t shake off….maybe he wasn’t being entirely honest with her after all. 

Slowly, she felt him move, his arms were starting to leave her….he was leaving, but he kissed the top of her head before starting to stand up. A strange feeling danced through Lucy’s body and she knew she couldn’t let him leave.

“Wait!” She put a hand on his shoulder and that was enough to stop him from standing up. She was finally face to face with him, their faces were so close...only inches apart. If only all those tears hadn’t blurred her vision.

“Please,” she decided to as once last time. “Who are you?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey yall don't forget to go say hi to me on my lego tumblr @piece-of-resistance :p I don't really post much anymore but theres some art over there


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello! its been a while I'm sorry! So in my defense, I completely forgot I had written this for some months, and I wasn't getting any ao3 emails so I thought no one was reading it too! It took me a while to realize that was not true and I'm glad you guys liked the previous chapters! I still have to deal with never really being contented with the things that I write, that's why updates always take long with me, but I wanna thank @angiepresto14 on tumblr for giving me her thoughts on the chapter before posting and overall being a supportive friend :) Well I'm gonna shut up now hope you enjoy?

Who was he? 

He was the worst person alive, he knew that because of the way he was making her cry. 

She was so close to him he could kiss her. He did contemplate doing that when his eyes accidentally flickered to her lips, and then back to her eyes again.  
It certainly was tempting to kiss her, at least one last time, but that couldn’t be. Instead, with a thumb, he wiped her tears from her cheeks.

“It doesn’t matter who I am.” He whispered in a comforting tone, as he ignored his brain yelling at him to turn around and get out of there. 

“It matters,” Lucy sniffed and started to rub her eyes, relieving them from the remaining tears and making her vision more clear. “It matter cause you’re the only person who’s known anything about Emmet in years and—“ 

She looked up to him again, this time she could actually see him. Nice and clear. Her lips parted slightly in confusion, she was looking at him like she was on a trance—like the pieces had fallen into place all at once. 

This was bad, Rex thought. This was dangerous, they were about to cross a line they were never meant to cross.  
He should run, he should leave before she fully recognized him, and she seemed to be so close to doing so. Maybe he was the one under a trance, cause his body seemed to be frozen, refusing to move away from her.

She raised her hand to his face, her fingers slowly running over his cheeks, his nose, the hair falling over his forehead. Her almost ghostly touch kept leaving shivers on his body. She traced the careful slope of his lips and studied all of his features one by one.  
And he did nothing to stop her. Why wasn’t he doing anything to stop her? 

“No…what?” She whispered in confusion. Their eyes met finally, and there was no doubt left in her, only confusion and disbelief. 

“How? It’s you! Em—”

“I need to go.” He said finally, standing up abruptly, turning around towards the exit. He couldn't let her finish that, couldn't let her call him Emmet again. He didn't deserve it, and neither did she. He was ready to leave, but she clung to his arm, bringing him down to the floor again, and even though he struggled, her grip was fierce and she was not letting him go.

“Emmet!” Her voice, that name, pierced through his ears. His heart gave a turn. For a second he felt sick. He should never have allowed this to happen! Never should have revealed his face to her! He’d been so stupid!

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. You’re wrong.” There was panic in his voice betraying his words. Once more he tried to hide his face away from her but there was no use, she’d already seen him. She knew, and he was screwed and all he wanted to do was either cry or disappear.

“Emmet,” she repeated, completely ignoring his distress; still believing that him being there was a good thing. “It’s you! Look at me please, babe! I can’t believe it’s you! I’ve been looking—“ 

“Stop it! I told you, the man you once knew doesn’t ex—“

“Why are you lying to me? Why are you saying those horrible things now that I finally found you?” She asked, holding back a sob. “I know you, I’d recognize those eyes anywhere. Look at me.”

She took her hand to his face and brought him closer to her, she did so slowly, almost afraid of being wrong. She was sure she wasn’t though, but space and loneliness had already started to mess with her head, and now she was being too hopeful. Being wrong would be the last straw, it would mean Emmet was truly gone. But he wasn't…their eyes met, and the man who’d been lost in space for so long was now finally in front of her.

Rex had vowed his hate to Lucy, he’d always thought that if he was to see her again he would fight, he wouldn’t give in. But then she smiled, and all his resistance was gone. He let himself be looked at again, no remaining strength to try to oppose her. Deep down he knew she wouldn’t let him leave and he also knew that he would not fight her ever again.

“There,” she said, caressing his cheek, smiling despite all the tears and the pain of all the years of separation resurfacing once more. “Let me see you.”

He was resigned now, it seemed. He’d stopped squirming and trying to leave. He looked defeated, an expression of heartbreak adorned his downcast eyes.

Emmet...Lucy thought and tried to remember the man she once loved. The special. A man who could smile and sing and laugh even in the darkest of times.  
A man who had loved her too.

He looked so different now. Older, more mature, a little handsome—well, very handsome, but that didn’t matter. He’d been already beautiful to her before, and he still was now, but there was something unsettling about him. She decided not to focus on his wild hair, his newly grown stubble, or his sharp cheekbones that she would not have guessed they’d been there before.  
People change on the outside, she said to herself. They do so all the time.

But something concerned her more than his new appearance. Maybe her Emmet had changed on the inside too. There was no trace left of his sweet nativity, his cheerfulness, and optimism. Emmet would have been overjoyed to see her. The man in front of her was not. He was in deep pain, just as she was too. She could feel it.

“Oh Emmet, what happened to you?”

Again. That name. Rex recoiled upon hearing it. Snapping out of it, he separated from her in a swift move. They’d been too close. No! He couldn’t believe he almost fell to her trap again!  
Not again, he told himself. Remember what they did to you.

“That’s not who I am.” He said slowly, disguising his voice once again. It’d sounded mean, like a warning. He saw her flinch. Was she afraid of him? That hadn’t been his intention at all, but if she was then that was okay. He’d knew that he wouldn’t ever hurt her, but he needed to drive her away. 

“My name is Rex. I am Rex Dangervest.”

His words echoed on the ship’s cold metallic walls, then silence fell. For a moment neither one knew what to say; Rex struggled to give her a side glance and he could’ve sworn he saw pity on her eyes. That’d only made him feel worse, he did not want to be pitied at all.

“...Rex? That’s what you call yourself now, Emmet?” Lucy asked in a soft whisper, taking one step close to him, then another. “I can call you that if you want.” 

He looked at her dumbfounded, not knowing what she was expecting from him now. This wasn’t a game where they’d pretend to be other people for fun. This wasn’t fun, he was Rex now not Emmet. But she didn’t seem to understand that. 

“...I’m going back to my ship now,” he announced, turning around, ready to get away from all the contradicting emotions running through him, but he couldn’t even take two steps before being stopped by Lucy.

“No!” She grabbed him by the arm. “You can’t leave! I’m not letting you! We need to talk!”

All the anger, resentfulness, and sadness from the last years of his life surfaced without warning...Lucy wanted to talk as if a conversation could heal all the pain! 

Well, sure they could talk, but he knew nothing she said could ever fix things between them. Still, a petty and bitter part of him won and made him turn back to her.

“Oh really? Lucy wants to talk…” his voice was sarcastic and mean like she’d never heard before and Lucy’s slightly hopeful expression faltered. “I don’t think that’s gonna be possible though. You wanna talk with Emmet, and all you have in front of you is Rex.” 

Lucy looked surprised, hurt, and shook her head as she tried to make sense of what Emmet was saying, of the way he’d said it, as if it was true somehow.  
“No—Stop this….Why are you acting like this? Like you’re not Emmet! Like I don’t matter!”

“I told you he’s gone! Gone for good,” He smiled mockingly, but then his expression became darker, his words rancorous. “And you’re one to talk about treating people like they don’t matter!” 

“W-what?” Lucy asked, not understanding his clear grudge towards her. After everything, he thought he didn’t matter to her? “How can you say that! You have no idea what I—“

“What you’ve been through?” He interrupted with sarcasm, as he crossed his arms against his chest as if challenging her. “Dancing and singing and laughing with all your friends while your so-called special best friend was lost in space? Oh Yeah, must’ve been so awful for you!”

“What are you even saying? That’s not—“

“Save it, Lucy. You wanted Emmet to change? To be tough and mean? And to harden his heart? Well,” he said pointing at his chest. “Here you go! I hope you like the final results of being stuck on a planet for years! Waiting for your friends—for the woman you love to come save you and to be left forgotten instead!”

“You...you’re blaming me for this?” She snapped at him finally trying not to cry more. Pain and betrayal in her words. “But I looked for you! I looked everywhere and never stopped! I wanted to find you! I was in pain too!”

Rex scoffed. “It certainly didn’t look like you were, from where I was standing.” There was something bitter in his voice, all tears now were forgotten. All his words—his attitude, everything had felt like a slap in the face for Lucy, and for a moment she thought she could actually slap him for daring to say those things.  
He didn’t know. He had no idea.

“....you think, the only feelings that matter are yours?! Yes, I did dance! And I sang and I laughed! And there’s nothing wrong with that! But I also thought of you every day, and I never gave up. I also got on this damned ship every other day to go look for you!” 

He didn’t say anything. He had nothing to argue back.  
They just stared at each other. The hurtful words spilled out still lingering between them. There was hurt and betrayal in their eyes. After so many years without each other, Lucy didn’t think this is how their first encounter would go, with venomous accusations and pain in their hearts.  
But she hadn’t kept hope all this time just to give up.  
There was truth in their feelings and now, even more than before, she knew she couldn’t let him go.

After a long, and drowning silence where neither of them dared move, Lucy sighed. She ran her fingers through her hair as she took in deep breaths. There were so many things she wanted to say and ask, so many tears left to spill, but what would happen after that? Did he really hate her so much? She wondered with heartache, as she gave him a side glance and realized he was still there, probably as clueless as of what to do next as she was. 

He hadn’t left, and Lucy dared to hope, that maybe a part of him didn’t wanna leave her.

The room they were in, with captured memories and her thoughts on paper still scattered all over the floor, seemed to be completely removed from the rest of the universe. She felt dizzy and once more she wondered if Emmet—Rex was nothing but a figment of her imagination.  
After a moment, she realized that it didn’t really matter to her. She was gonna give in. Give up her anger, her pride, anything if it meant he’d stay. 

“I’m sorry,” Lucy’s voice finally broke the silence. 

“....me too.” He said, after hesitating for some moments. “For yelling, I mean.” 

“I think I need a drink.” She turned around, with a secret, small smile. She hadn’t expected him to apologize too, there was so much to talk about. Now she was ready to leave to a lounging area of her ship, but she stopped towards the exit, not without inviting him first. “I...I have enough for two.” She asked with a hint of nervousness. She knew Emmet wasn’t too keen on alcohol, but Rex? He might be. 

For a moment she feared he would leave, now that her back was turned, and reject her invitation, but then she heard his boot fall on the metallic floor. One step after another and then he was next to her.  
She allowed herself a little smile in relief. So he was giving in too, after all.

“Well, at least you know how to keep a guest.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> idk if by the end its gonna keep showing my message that says to follow my lego art tumblr? anyways don't do it it doesn't exist anymore! even though I'm not really in the fandom anymore I will finish posting this story I promise

**Author's Note:**

> bye bye, hope you enjoyed! you can go to my lego Tumblr @piece_of_resistance for more lego art


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